My Wife's cousins got a new dog and they brought her over for a meet and greet with Kumo. The video says it all, nothing else for me to say:
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Lost Wallet
On the flight back from Miami, we could not get a direct flight to Detroit so we had to fly into Chicago with a connecting flight to Detroit. We had a 2 1/2 layover in Chicago.
We got to Chicago and there was a Starbucks right around the corner and I went and got a Hot Chocolate. Wife went to the restroom and I gave her a 5 dollar bill to get her Tea, that she drinks very morning. It was not enough so I gave her a $20. She got her tea and then gave me the change which I put int he wallet. I had about $500 in the wallet.
Then we sat at the gate for our flight and I noticed that I did not have my wallet when I landed in Detroit. I called the lost and found for American Airlines and left a message about what I lost.
I got a call the next day that they found my wallet and they fedexed it back to me.
The big question on everyone's mind was how much would in the wallet when it came back to me. I expected Zero, the way everyone was talking that they would return the wallet without taking anything out, you would have expected that their might be a chance for something to be in the wallet. So I got the wallet back and there was, $203 dollars left in the wallet. The only thing missing was my business card and that was it. The credit cards were out of order, but I got about half of the cash in the wallet back. I was surprised. I really truly expected zero back and I would have expected that loss without any issues, since it was my fault for losing the wallet.
We got to Chicago and there was a Starbucks right around the corner and I went and got a Hot Chocolate. Wife went to the restroom and I gave her a 5 dollar bill to get her Tea, that she drinks very morning. It was not enough so I gave her a $20. She got her tea and then gave me the change which I put int he wallet. I had about $500 in the wallet.
Then we sat at the gate for our flight and I noticed that I did not have my wallet when I landed in Detroit. I called the lost and found for American Airlines and left a message about what I lost.
I got a call the next day that they found my wallet and they fedexed it back to me.
The big question on everyone's mind was how much would in the wallet when it came back to me. I expected Zero, the way everyone was talking that they would return the wallet without taking anything out, you would have expected that their might be a chance for something to be in the wallet. So I got the wallet back and there was, $203 dollars left in the wallet. The only thing missing was my business card and that was it. The credit cards were out of order, but I got about half of the cash in the wallet back. I was surprised. I really truly expected zero back and I would have expected that loss without any issues, since it was my fault for losing the wallet.
Cruise Part 2
In Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we did three activities, Zip Lining, River Rafting and Climbing Duns Falls. All the ship activities only had two of the activities that we wanted so we actually booked these three activites outside the cruise line and got a 40% discount and a Van to ourselves. We had a group of 10 people.
This was the first time I had done Zip Lining. The first Zip Lining was just a long zip line over the canopy of trees and was nice and enjoyable.
The second Zip Line was a telephone pole with a wooden platform. You had to first climb the wooden pole, then get onto the wooden platform and then jump off and there was a 8-12 feet of free fall before the zip line took over. It was a super windy day and it felt like it took for ever to climb the telephone pole and get on top. There were these hooks to climb the telephone pole. Then when I am sitting on top of the platform and the wind is just howling and you are so high up and the whole pole is just moving, but after gathering a lot of courage I jumped and the equipment took over and it was all over. Very Scary.
The third zip line was a Swing. 3 people have to get on and then the swing goes back 90 degrees and then you pull a release line and you are basically on this big swing, swinging back and forth over a big valley. I chickened out on this and did not do it. Everyone kept making fun that I was a chicken, but in Jamaica the term they used was Jungle Duck. So then everyone kept calling me a jungle duck. Quack, quack I say. The second zip line wore out my courage and I did not to prove anything. Quack, quack.
Then we went to the Duns Rivers Falls and you had to get to the bottom of the falls and then climb all the way to the top of the falls in the rushing water. I took one look at this and said to myself, weight plus fall equals helicopter ride to the hospital and I hung in the back of the pack of our group and then quietly stayed back. They get down below and I am missing, too late to look for me. There is a walkway all the way up and down and go down after awhile and look for them, they are still at the bottom.
At this point as I am walking down, there were some stairways to the right and there some beads on the stairs and there is a Jamaican at the top of stairs which has a gate that is locked, he calls over to me. He says can I get the beads, I get them and attempt to toss them to him, he says, "No, come and give them to me."
I go and give them to him and he says that these beads are good luck beads and I should really buy them and he will take whatever I have. I had a ten dollar bill and he gives 2 beads for 10 dollars. (Later I saw the same beads for $1 each, oh well).
Anyway I follow the progress of the gang and after a long time they make it to top. I think they only got one bloody knee. But about 1/2 way up there was an older lady that had fallen and had hurt her hip really bad and later I saw her in a wheelchair. She was at least 50 something and over 300 pounds for sure. What were you thinking, come on.
The last activity was a tube ride down a river and this was without a doubt the greatest tube ride ever. It was on a rushing river and the forest had completely overgrown the river so the river was surrounded by lush vegetation. About halfway down the river we came to a spot where there was a tree in the middle of the river and somebody had a swing on a branch of the tree. I am talking about a swing you see in the old Hindi Movies. The heroes car breaks down and and there is Saroji Devi Swinging in the middle of the river and then Love. Yes, it was that type of swing. So if you are ever in Ocho Rios, you have to do the tubing down the river activity. One of the best and most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Then we went to Grand Cayman islands and we were so worn out from Jamaica that we actually just hung out at 7 mile beach and did jet skiing and being lazy.
That was the cruise. In my opinion, it was great and really the cruise is what you make of it. You can be as busy as you want to be, or you can be as lazy as you want to be. Either way you will love it. I highly recommend that everyone take a cruise, a very affordable and fun vacation.
Final Total for Vacation Expenses:
Cruise: $1400
FontaineBleau: $2000 for 3 nights
Excursions: $1000
Outside Dinners: $1000
Airfare: $2000
Other Expenses: $1000
This was my expenses, but you can do this vacation, much cheaper than I did it. Right next to FountaineBleau was the Sheraton Four Points and that hotel was only $159 a night, or some people booked their flights so that they did not have to stay in a hotel.
When I do something I tend to do it very nice and luxurious, because you are older like me, you never know when you last day might me on this planet, so I tend to enjoy myself if I can afford it.
This was the first time I had done Zip Lining. The first Zip Lining was just a long zip line over the canopy of trees and was nice and enjoyable.
The second Zip Line was a telephone pole with a wooden platform. You had to first climb the wooden pole, then get onto the wooden platform and then jump off and there was a 8-12 feet of free fall before the zip line took over. It was a super windy day and it felt like it took for ever to climb the telephone pole and get on top. There were these hooks to climb the telephone pole. Then when I am sitting on top of the platform and the wind is just howling and you are so high up and the whole pole is just moving, but after gathering a lot of courage I jumped and the equipment took over and it was all over. Very Scary.
The third zip line was a Swing. 3 people have to get on and then the swing goes back 90 degrees and then you pull a release line and you are basically on this big swing, swinging back and forth over a big valley. I chickened out on this and did not do it. Everyone kept making fun that I was a chicken, but in Jamaica the term they used was Jungle Duck. So then everyone kept calling me a jungle duck. Quack, quack I say. The second zip line wore out my courage and I did not to prove anything. Quack, quack.
Then we went to the Duns Rivers Falls and you had to get to the bottom of the falls and then climb all the way to the top of the falls in the rushing water. I took one look at this and said to myself, weight plus fall equals helicopter ride to the hospital and I hung in the back of the pack of our group and then quietly stayed back. They get down below and I am missing, too late to look for me. There is a walkway all the way up and down and go down after awhile and look for them, they are still at the bottom.
At this point as I am walking down, there were some stairways to the right and there some beads on the stairs and there is a Jamaican at the top of stairs which has a gate that is locked, he calls over to me. He says can I get the beads, I get them and attempt to toss them to him, he says, "No, come and give them to me."
I go and give them to him and he says that these beads are good luck beads and I should really buy them and he will take whatever I have. I had a ten dollar bill and he gives 2 beads for 10 dollars. (Later I saw the same beads for $1 each, oh well).
Anyway I follow the progress of the gang and after a long time they make it to top. I think they only got one bloody knee. But about 1/2 way up there was an older lady that had fallen and had hurt her hip really bad and later I saw her in a wheelchair. She was at least 50 something and over 300 pounds for sure. What were you thinking, come on.
The last activity was a tube ride down a river and this was without a doubt the greatest tube ride ever. It was on a rushing river and the forest had completely overgrown the river so the river was surrounded by lush vegetation. About halfway down the river we came to a spot where there was a tree in the middle of the river and somebody had a swing on a branch of the tree. I am talking about a swing you see in the old Hindi Movies. The heroes car breaks down and and there is Saroji Devi Swinging in the middle of the river and then Love. Yes, it was that type of swing. So if you are ever in Ocho Rios, you have to do the tubing down the river activity. One of the best and most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Then we went to Grand Cayman islands and we were so worn out from Jamaica that we actually just hung out at 7 mile beach and did jet skiing and being lazy.
That was the cruise. In my opinion, it was great and really the cruise is what you make of it. You can be as busy as you want to be, or you can be as lazy as you want to be. Either way you will love it. I highly recommend that everyone take a cruise, a very affordable and fun vacation.
Final Total for Vacation Expenses:
Cruise: $1400
FontaineBleau: $2000 for 3 nights
Excursions: $1000
Outside Dinners: $1000
Airfare: $2000
Other Expenses: $1000
This was my expenses, but you can do this vacation, much cheaper than I did it. Right next to FountaineBleau was the Sheraton Four Points and that hotel was only $159 a night, or some people booked their flights so that they did not have to stay in a hotel.
When I do something I tend to do it very nice and luxurious, because you are older like me, you never know when you last day might me on this planet, so I tend to enjoy myself if I can afford it.
Cruise
This was a picture of me and the dealer for the blackjack tournament after I won. The prize of $500 was given as red $5 chips in the try on the table.
This was a picture of the girls after they finished the climb at Dunn's Falls
Part of the gang climbing the falls.
In gear and ready for ziplining.
A Picture of me with Miami in the background right before the ship left port.
Like I said this was my first cruise. We went to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Islands. My first impression of the cruise was, it was extremely cheap and the entire staff on the cruise ship were extremely friendly.
The feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner on board and they have a midnight buffet and a 24 hour pizza bar.
The dinner was sit down events and one night it was a dress for dinner event where you had to dress in suits for the men and evening wear for the women. Each night of the dinner there was a different dinner event, for instance there was Congo Dancing, and the women dancing or everyone getting up and dancing near the table.
The cruise ship is full of activities and with so much to choose from, you can make yourself as busy as you want or as inactive as you want.
On the very first night they had a stage show in which the cruise ship director Kevin Noonan, everyone just calls him Noonan, came on stage and wanted 3 men and 3 women on stage. I was trying to be as quite as possible and inconspicuous as possible, but I was called up on the stage. I was the first person called up. Basically it was people introducing themselves and Noonan having fun with names and what they did. So there was a very sweet Chinese girl named Vam Pre Ho (Or something like that), so Noonan started called her Vampire Ho. We all started called her Vampire HO, and trust me her name really sounded like Vampire Ho, that was so funny, I guess you had to be there to understand why it was so funny.
Anyway I was the first one on stage but the last one to be called on by Noonan. He asks me who I am here with with and I tell him my wife and 20 other friends. He asks for my wife to come on stage and he asks her if I am romantic, and she says NO! I agreed with that assessment. Then he tells my wife that he is going to make me do something romantic. Then he comes over to me and says that in front of the whole audience I need to say, "I love my Wife as much as BLANK" and I need to fill in the blank and then walk across the stage and then kiss my wife.
He told me to practice the walk and I just started walking across normal and he says No, NO, a romantic walk and asks for one of the other men on stage to show me and one the blank men on stage does that slow gait cool black walk with a low dip on one side. So finally I say, "I love My Wife as much as Kumo" (Nobody had any idea as to wait or who Kumo was), and then I walked across the stage sexually (not really, I think) and dipped my wife and kissed her and the audience exploded with cheers and applause. Then there was a game with a spoon and a string and we were divided into teams of three and we had to take the spoon and drop in the pant legs for men and down the blouses for women. Our group of three won that and they asked us to pull it back and we apparently lost that by a fraction of a second. Either way all the participants got a bottle of wine for coming on stage.
The funny thing was that they kept playing that stage show on the TV's in all the rooms the entire cruise. So everywhere I went, everyone knew me. The passengers knew me, the staff knew me, basically everybody knew me and just called me Vijay the entire cruise.
Here is the video I found on Neeta's Camera:
I also won money in the poker room and I won the blackjack tournament on the ship. The blackjack tournament was fun. You had to have one of the top 7 scores high scores among about 80-100 people that took part. Then the top 7 sat down and played 7 hands of Blackjack and the top score would win. The prize was $500 and a gold ship trophy. It was not the money, but the thrill of competition and I was so nervous. Basically by the 6th hand I was about $100 more than everybody else, and on the last hand I was all in but that $100 and I got a 20 on the last hand and I won. Yeah, that was thrilling for sure! There was a big group behind all the players cheering or groaning based on who they were cheering for, very exciting.
This was a picture of the girls after they finished the climb at Dunn's Falls
Part of the gang climbing the falls.
In gear and ready for ziplining.
A Picture of me with Miami in the background right before the ship left port.
Like I said this was my first cruise. We went to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Islands. My first impression of the cruise was, it was extremely cheap and the entire staff on the cruise ship were extremely friendly.
The feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner on board and they have a midnight buffet and a 24 hour pizza bar.
The dinner was sit down events and one night it was a dress for dinner event where you had to dress in suits for the men and evening wear for the women. Each night of the dinner there was a different dinner event, for instance there was Congo Dancing, and the women dancing or everyone getting up and dancing near the table.
The cruise ship is full of activities and with so much to choose from, you can make yourself as busy as you want or as inactive as you want.
On the very first night they had a stage show in which the cruise ship director Kevin Noonan, everyone just calls him Noonan, came on stage and wanted 3 men and 3 women on stage. I was trying to be as quite as possible and inconspicuous as possible, but I was called up on the stage. I was the first person called up. Basically it was people introducing themselves and Noonan having fun with names and what they did. So there was a very sweet Chinese girl named Vam Pre Ho (Or something like that), so Noonan started called her Vampire Ho. We all started called her Vampire HO, and trust me her name really sounded like Vampire Ho, that was so funny, I guess you had to be there to understand why it was so funny.
Anyway I was the first one on stage but the last one to be called on by Noonan. He asks me who I am here with with and I tell him my wife and 20 other friends. He asks for my wife to come on stage and he asks her if I am romantic, and she says NO! I agreed with that assessment. Then he tells my wife that he is going to make me do something romantic. Then he comes over to me and says that in front of the whole audience I need to say, "I love my Wife as much as BLANK" and I need to fill in the blank and then walk across the stage and then kiss my wife.
He told me to practice the walk and I just started walking across normal and he says No, NO, a romantic walk and asks for one of the other men on stage to show me and one the blank men on stage does that slow gait cool black walk with a low dip on one side. So finally I say, "I love My Wife as much as Kumo" (Nobody had any idea as to wait or who Kumo was), and then I walked across the stage sexually (not really, I think) and dipped my wife and kissed her and the audience exploded with cheers and applause. Then there was a game with a spoon and a string and we were divided into teams of three and we had to take the spoon and drop in the pant legs for men and down the blouses for women. Our group of three won that and they asked us to pull it back and we apparently lost that by a fraction of a second. Either way all the participants got a bottle of wine for coming on stage.
The funny thing was that they kept playing that stage show on the TV's in all the rooms the entire cruise. So everywhere I went, everyone knew me. The passengers knew me, the staff knew me, basically everybody knew me and just called me Vijay the entire cruise.
Here is the video I found on Neeta's Camera:
I also won money in the poker room and I won the blackjack tournament on the ship. The blackjack tournament was fun. You had to have one of the top 7 scores high scores among about 80-100 people that took part. Then the top 7 sat down and played 7 hands of Blackjack and the top score would win. The prize was $500 and a gold ship trophy. It was not the money, but the thrill of competition and I was so nervous. Basically by the 6th hand I was about $100 more than everybody else, and on the last hand I was all in but that $100 and I got a 20 on the last hand and I won. Yeah, that was thrilling for sure! There was a big group behind all the players cheering or groaning based on who they were cheering for, very exciting.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Fontainebleau and Jamaica
I think I have gotten old and set in my ways. Each person has their own way of relaxation on vacation. So I am in this beautiful hotel called: Fontainebleau in Miami and the hotel has I think 11 separate pools. Wife is hanging in the pool, but for some reason I like to hang near the pool, but reading, eating and drinking.
I can swim for 5 minutes, but I do like to read while the wind blows on you from the ocean. I keep getting pressured to this activity and that activity, but is it so wrong to just hang out read and if that is something I really enjoy?
We are about to get on a cruise ship to Jamaica in another few hours. The real horror of this 5 days is that there is no Internet or Cell phone usage. I hear you can use the cell phone, but that it costs $4.50 per minutes. The internet also works, but $.75 per minute. Jeez, basically they have priced it so that it is really not there.
I have lots of pictures from the hotel and I will post them when I get back on the 23rd. By then I should have lots of pictures from the cruise also.
This is my first cruise, so I will post a review after I get back on the 23rd.
Pictures From My Room at the Fontainebleau:
I can swim for 5 minutes, but I do like to read while the wind blows on you from the ocean. I keep getting pressured to this activity and that activity, but is it so wrong to just hang out read and if that is something I really enjoy?
We are about to get on a cruise ship to Jamaica in another few hours. The real horror of this 5 days is that there is no Internet or Cell phone usage. I hear you can use the cell phone, but that it costs $4.50 per minutes. The internet also works, but $.75 per minute. Jeez, basically they have priced it so that it is really not there.
I have lots of pictures from the hotel and I will post them when I get back on the 23rd. By then I should have lots of pictures from the cruise also.
This is my first cruise, so I will post a review after I get back on the 23rd.
Pictures From My Room at the Fontainebleau:
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Dad & My Dog
When my dad and mom came and stayed with us, I would see Kumo come near his snacks and my Dad would give him something. So Now after dad has left that habit has now stayed. Kumo will come and stand near his snacks, and then he will sit near his snacks and then finally he lays down in front of the area where we keep his snacks, until someone gives him something.
Kumo can easily just knock them down with his paw and then tear into them, but he will never do this. Trust me I have not disciplined him into this behavior, this is just the way he is.
So, yes, my dad has taught my dog a new behavior that he did not have before.
Kumo can easily just knock them down with his paw and then tear into them, but he will never do this. Trust me I have not disciplined him into this behavior, this is just the way he is.
So, yes, my dad has taught my dog a new behavior that he did not have before.
Mom and Her Picture
My mom has been calling and talking to everybody about sending the latest pictures of me after all that weight loss.
This is from today, so you do not have to call anybody else.
Presenting the latest pictures of Vijay: (Current Weight as of today 244.3)
I actually need to be careful now. The appetite has come back with a vengeance. It was crazy how much I ate on Sunday. On Sunday I had 9 Idli, 3 bowls of Bisibelibath, 1 bowl of Upma, 1 Quarter Pounder, 2 Puri and about 5-6 pieces of Fish 65. Crazy huh! When I was sick I would have eaten 3 Idli and that would have been it. I think I have to start working out now so that I can continue with the weight loss.
This is from today, so you do not have to call anybody else.
Presenting the latest pictures of Vijay: (Current Weight as of today 244.3)
I actually need to be careful now. The appetite has come back with a vengeance. It was crazy how much I ate on Sunday. On Sunday I had 9 Idli, 3 bowls of Bisibelibath, 1 bowl of Upma, 1 Quarter Pounder, 2 Puri and about 5-6 pieces of Fish 65. Crazy huh! When I was sick I would have eaten 3 Idli and that would have been it. I think I have to start working out now so that I can continue with the weight loss.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
DC Trip
I had taken Neeta and the kids on a tour of DC last night. We started at the Capital, then the Smithsonian area and the Mall, then we went by Jefferson Memorial, and then we stopped at the FDR memorial. The tour guide did a great explanation of this monument. It is very appropriate in this time of high unemployment to visit this memorial and remember what took us out of the depression and all the great work that FDR got done during his watch as a president.
Then we went to the MLK memorial and that was nice. I guess the quote that I remember the most from his memorial was, "Darkness cannot defeat darkness, only Love can defeat darkness."
It sounds so nice to hear, but does this really apply in our current times? Maybe to some situations, but not against Al Qaeda, if we showed them love and compassion, I think they would see it as a sign of weakness.
Then we went to Korean Memorial, the Lincoln and then the Vietnam Memorial.
Then we went to get back on the Party Bus, and the Bus was dead. Yes, the battery was dead and we took Taxi's to the dinner at BLT Steak. By the time we got to BLT, the party bus driver said that the Bus was OK, and to call him and he would pick us up to go home.
OK, here is where I think that I have the taste of poor village boy. We were at this fancy steak place, and they gave this fancy bread, and dried meats, and some liver paste. I know that all these are all fancy foods and I am supposed to enjoy them, but to tell you the truth, YUCK! I was thinking how nice it would be if I could a few punugulu instead. Then we ordered dinner, I ordered a 28 day aged steak. It was nice, I ate half, and left the other half for my dog. Got back on the bus and went to dessert at, Krispy Kreme, we got HOT doughnuts as they came off the line and that was nice.
Got back home and then ate rice and pickle.
OK, I admit it, I am man of simple village boy tastes. Money is wasted on someone like me. I enjoy a simple Telugu movie, a simple Indian dinner and a nice Hot Doughnut.
Ok, that was the trip. I learned a little history and I learned that making money still does not change your taste buds. I am who I am, I will never be this suit wearing, fancy dinner type of person.
Then we went to the MLK memorial and that was nice. I guess the quote that I remember the most from his memorial was, "Darkness cannot defeat darkness, only Love can defeat darkness."
It sounds so nice to hear, but does this really apply in our current times? Maybe to some situations, but not against Al Qaeda, if we showed them love and compassion, I think they would see it as a sign of weakness.
Then we went to Korean Memorial, the Lincoln and then the Vietnam Memorial.
Then we went to get back on the Party Bus, and the Bus was dead. Yes, the battery was dead and we took Taxi's to the dinner at BLT Steak. By the time we got to BLT, the party bus driver said that the Bus was OK, and to call him and he would pick us up to go home.
OK, here is where I think that I have the taste of poor village boy. We were at this fancy steak place, and they gave this fancy bread, and dried meats, and some liver paste. I know that all these are all fancy foods and I am supposed to enjoy them, but to tell you the truth, YUCK! I was thinking how nice it would be if I could a few punugulu instead. Then we ordered dinner, I ordered a 28 day aged steak. It was nice, I ate half, and left the other half for my dog. Got back on the bus and went to dessert at, Krispy Kreme, we got HOT doughnuts as they came off the line and that was nice.
Got back home and then ate rice and pickle.
OK, I admit it, I am man of simple village boy tastes. Money is wasted on someone like me. I enjoy a simple Telugu movie, a simple Indian dinner and a nice Hot Doughnut.
Ok, that was the trip. I learned a little history and I learned that making money still does not change your taste buds. I am who I am, I will never be this suit wearing, fancy dinner type of person.
Cough Gone
I am happy to report that the cough has almost disappeared. I cough once or twice and that is all. This is due to the new medication that Dr. Farra has started me on, the prednisolone, but does this mean that I have/had sarcoidosis?
Not sure, but I am happy that the cough is gone. Not sure if this means I am cured or what happens going forward, but take one blessing at a time I guess.
Not sure, but I am happy that the cough is gone. Not sure if this means I am cured or what happens going forward, but take one blessing at a time I guess.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Neeta DC Complaint
Neeta always complains that I never show her DC and all I want to do it to hang with the kids and either play Uno or go out to movies and dinner with them.
So this evening as a surprise I have arranged a party bus and a professional tour guide for all of us. We will be visiting all the monuments lit up at night and the tour guide will give us the history behind them. Once we finish this we are going out to dinner at a nice restaurant in DC and then back home.
I hope it works out and we all have fun with a little education and then a nice night out. Do you think I should add more to this trip?
Everyone was free tonight so I think this will be a nice surprise for everyone. The bus will be here at 6:30PM, so I better go and get ready and try to get everyone else ready also.
So this evening as a surprise I have arranged a party bus and a professional tour guide for all of us. We will be visiting all the monuments lit up at night and the tour guide will give us the history behind them. Once we finish this we are going out to dinner at a nice restaurant in DC and then back home.
I hope it works out and we all have fun with a little education and then a nice night out. Do you think I should add more to this trip?
Everyone was free tonight so I think this will be a nice surprise for everyone. The bus will be here at 6:30PM, so I better go and get ready and try to get everyone else ready also.
We Were So Poor Stories
I was telling my cousin sisters kids we were so poor stories. I swear to you each and every story is absolutely true:
1) The parents had beds but all the kids slept on the ground on mattresses. We all used to wear sandals and we would get callouses on our feet. At night mice would come and eat just the callouses of the feet and we would not feel anything. Crazy huh, and I swear to you that this is true. I know the kids will say, no way, but it is true. The mice would only eat the callouses off the feet.
2) We did not have a refrigerator
3) We did not have a car
4) We did not have our own bedrooms, and the boys would sleep on the roof of the house. Mainly because you would hope for a breeze so that you could fall asleep.
5) We did not have hot water heaters.
6) We did not have washing machines. Instead we had a rock. We would rub this blue clothes soap called Rin and then beat the clothes on the rock and then rinse and dry. That was our washing machine. We each did our own washing.
7) Of course no Dryer, we had to hang the clothes out to dry.
8) We used to ride one bicycle to the move theater so that we could save on parking. Venu would sit on the handle bar or the back on the storage rack.
Yes these were some of the things that we did not have, but we never felt poor or that we needed or wanted more, we grew up just fine and felt comfortable and happy with what we had.
1) The parents had beds but all the kids slept on the ground on mattresses. We all used to wear sandals and we would get callouses on our feet. At night mice would come and eat just the callouses of the feet and we would not feel anything. Crazy huh, and I swear to you that this is true. I know the kids will say, no way, but it is true. The mice would only eat the callouses off the feet.
2) We did not have a refrigerator
3) We did not have a car
4) We did not have our own bedrooms, and the boys would sleep on the roof of the house. Mainly because you would hope for a breeze so that you could fall asleep.
5) We did not have hot water heaters.
6) We did not have washing machines. Instead we had a rock. We would rub this blue clothes soap called Rin and then beat the clothes on the rock and then rinse and dry. That was our washing machine. We each did our own washing.
7) Of course no Dryer, we had to hang the clothes out to dry.
8) We used to ride one bicycle to the move theater so that we could save on parking. Venu would sit on the handle bar or the back on the storage rack.
Yes these were some of the things that we did not have, but we never felt poor or that we needed or wanted more, we grew up just fine and felt comfortable and happy with what we had.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thankful
I would like to thank a whole bunch of people who over the last year have made me very successful and helped me a lot and this is in order of helpfulness.
To all of you below thank you so much for everything and all the help you have given to me:
Venkat (This is not his real name, but he knows who he is)
My Consultants - There are too many to name
Neeta
Bobby
Maneesha and Upendra
Sampath and Anu
Jeevan
My Teachers
Naveen
Balaji
Prasad
Praveen
There are a few other people that I would like to mention but I cannot, but thank you also, and you guys know who you are.
There is no way I would be successful this year without the help of everyone on my list and I am extremely grateful for my association with all of you. You all have helped me and I hope to be of help to all of you in the coming year and beyond.
To all of you below thank you so much for everything and all the help you have given to me:
Venkat (This is not his real name, but he knows who he is)
My Consultants - There are too many to name
Neeta
Bobby
Maneesha and Upendra
Sampath and Anu
Jeevan
My Teachers
Naveen
Balaji
Prasad
Praveen
There are a few other people that I would like to mention but I cannot, but thank you also, and you guys know who you are.
There is no way I would be successful this year without the help of everyone on my list and I am extremely grateful for my association with all of you. You all have helped me and I hope to be of help to all of you in the coming year and beyond.
In DC
I started for DC on Monday morning. I stopped for lunch at my sisters house and we ate spaghetti with garlic bread. It was very good.
My sisters son was home, and this was his first trip home after he started working for me. He had taken his mother and father out to Red Lobster, that was nice.
This kid when he was looking for his first job used to tell me that all he needed to be comfortable was $30,000 a year. I pay him and $56,000 and next year he will make around $80,000-$100,000 based on his bill rate, and he now says that even $100,000 is too little. He says that the minimum he now needs to live comfortable is $200,000. This is after just 4 months of working, it is crazy how someone's prospective changes after they start paying their own bills.
I found the whole conversation very interesting and I agree with him, $100,000 nowadays is not a tremendous amount of money after taxes.
We are now in Wash DC, having fun. We will leave back to Detroit on Sunday.
My sisters son was home, and this was his first trip home after he started working for me. He had taken his mother and father out to Red Lobster, that was nice.
This kid when he was looking for his first job used to tell me that all he needed to be comfortable was $30,000 a year. I pay him and $56,000 and next year he will make around $80,000-$100,000 based on his bill rate, and he now says that even $100,000 is too little. He says that the minimum he now needs to live comfortable is $200,000. This is after just 4 months of working, it is crazy how someone's prospective changes after they start paying their own bills.
I found the whole conversation very interesting and I agree with him, $100,000 nowadays is not a tremendous amount of money after taxes.
We are now in Wash DC, having fun. We will leave back to Detroit on Sunday.
Girls Names For Card Players
I have told you guys before that we play cards and Naveen is probably our best player in our group. We have weak players, strong players, and average players. Then we have a few players that do unscrupulous things to win, like for instance for when Naveen drops his hand, they will ask for him to play their hands.
I consider this cheating, because someone like Naveen who is excellent with numbers, he will remember his cards and drop cards in others hands based on what he has when he dropped. Let me give an example that happened this past weekend. I was sitting next to Naveen and I dropped my hand and Naveen had a dupe of Spade 6, and I told him I was happy I dropped since I needed both of them. Naveen dropped also and Krishnaveni (I refuse to call him by his boy name anymore, since he is acting like a girl) gave him his cards to play. In that hand there was three free cards, a Spade 8, and Diamond 10 and a Jack, I forgot what suite. But the first card that Naveen dropped was the spade 8, and it was most definitely based on what cards he folded and my comment, and as a numbers guy that Naveen is, that was absolutely the correct card to drop. But as a matter of simple fair play, it was cheating, because there was no way he would have dropped that card in a normal situation.
Now I guess I am not supposed to make fun of Krishnaveni, since he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but I could care less, he could be worth a billion and I could care less. He is simply cheating and Naveen is helping him cheat each time he plays his hand. I am unsure what pleasure that Krishnaveni gets in letting Naveen play, except for the fact that his hands has a higher percentage chance to win. Since he makes his money in the stock market, this is nothing more than trading on insider information.
Prasad has mentioned it before, but no one seems to listen, and when we insisted on it one night Krishaveni was getting ready to walk away and go home. The money we play for is meaningless to him, but for some reason he still likes to win, since he constantly gives his cards to Naveen to play.
Balaji and Kutambarao used to do this also, but I started calling them by girl names and they finally stopped. I guess I have to get tougher with Krishnaveni and hopefully he will stop playing with insider insider information, and play his own hand.
I consider it cheating and nothing less and worthy of a girl, but not a man. Be a MAN Krishnaveni, and stop pussing out.
(By the way I won that night so do not take this as a lament of someone that lost. I know what is right and wrong and I just wanted to point it out, that is all.)
I consider this cheating, because someone like Naveen who is excellent with numbers, he will remember his cards and drop cards in others hands based on what he has when he dropped. Let me give an example that happened this past weekend. I was sitting next to Naveen and I dropped my hand and Naveen had a dupe of Spade 6, and I told him I was happy I dropped since I needed both of them. Naveen dropped also and Krishnaveni (I refuse to call him by his boy name anymore, since he is acting like a girl) gave him his cards to play. In that hand there was three free cards, a Spade 8, and Diamond 10 and a Jack, I forgot what suite. But the first card that Naveen dropped was the spade 8, and it was most definitely based on what cards he folded and my comment, and as a numbers guy that Naveen is, that was absolutely the correct card to drop. But as a matter of simple fair play, it was cheating, because there was no way he would have dropped that card in a normal situation.
Now I guess I am not supposed to make fun of Krishnaveni, since he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but I could care less, he could be worth a billion and I could care less. He is simply cheating and Naveen is helping him cheat each time he plays his hand. I am unsure what pleasure that Krishnaveni gets in letting Naveen play, except for the fact that his hands has a higher percentage chance to win. Since he makes his money in the stock market, this is nothing more than trading on insider information.
Prasad has mentioned it before, but no one seems to listen, and when we insisted on it one night Krishaveni was getting ready to walk away and go home. The money we play for is meaningless to him, but for some reason he still likes to win, since he constantly gives his cards to Naveen to play.
Balaji and Kutambarao used to do this also, but I started calling them by girl names and they finally stopped. I guess I have to get tougher with Krishnaveni and hopefully he will stop playing with insider insider information, and play his own hand.
I consider it cheating and nothing less and worthy of a girl, but not a man. Be a MAN Krishnaveni, and stop pussing out.
(By the way I won that night so do not take this as a lament of someone that lost. I know what is right and wrong and I just wanted to point it out, that is all.)
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Pictures From my Phone
I had gone to a friends party and he had this as a center piece at his kids birthday party. I thought it was so cute. But unfortunately, they had covered the top of the vase with another flower center piece and the fish started dying off after a few hours, because they could not get oxygen.
Kumo Chilling. Got his tongue sticking out like he used to as a little kid.
This was possibly the best seats ever for a Baseball game I have ever gotten. This was for the Detroit Tigers vs The Cubs. We crushed them that day 16 to something.
This was a notice from the Post Office and it says the senders name is: HELL
I was like Whoa, is Hell really sending me a welcome package, I thought I had a little more time before I was welcomed to HELL. It was unusual to say the least, I forgot what it was, but I remember that it was innocuous.
This was an accident at the corner of Haggerty and the Best Buy entrance. I am unsure how this happened, considering how slow everyone drives at that intersection. But I just drove up to this and there were a few people around the accident and no cops yet. I simply cannot fathom how it happened at those slow speeds. For those of you that know this intersection the restaurant at the top of the picture is the On The Border or South of The Border (unsure of the name).
This was the sunset from the sunset jeep drive on the sand dunes.
Kumo Chilling. Got his tongue sticking out like he used to as a little kid.
This was possibly the best seats ever for a Baseball game I have ever gotten. This was for the Detroit Tigers vs The Cubs. We crushed them that day 16 to something.
This was a notice from the Post Office and it says the senders name is: HELL
I was like Whoa, is Hell really sending me a welcome package, I thought I had a little more time before I was welcomed to HELL. It was unusual to say the least, I forgot what it was, but I remember that it was innocuous.
This was an accident at the corner of Haggerty and the Best Buy entrance. I am unsure how this happened, considering how slow everyone drives at that intersection. But I just drove up to this and there were a few people around the accident and no cops yet. I simply cannot fathom how it happened at those slow speeds. For those of you that know this intersection the restaurant at the top of the picture is the On The Border or South of The Border (unsure of the name).
This was the sunset from the sunset jeep drive on the sand dunes.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Surprise Visit to DC
We are going to DC on Monday or Sunday for 1 week. We have not told Ramakka or the kids, I thought that we would surprise them for Thanksgiving.
We are taking Kumo with us, he always enjoys his vacation to DC with the girls.
We are taking Kumo with us, he always enjoys his vacation to DC with the girls.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
New Pulmonologist on my Case in MI
I have a new Pulmonologist in MI that is going to coordinate my care along with the doctor in McAllen. We now have Dr. Farra.
I like his approach to treatment. He immediately increased by dosage on Advair, and he wants to start low dosage Prednisolone for 6 days to see if there is any symptomatic relief. I do like the fact that he is being aggressive and trying something and not waiting another 4 weeks like the doctors in McAllen were doing.
I like his approach to treatment. He immediately increased by dosage on Advair, and he wants to start low dosage Prednisolone for 6 days to see if there is any symptomatic relief. I do like the fact that he is being aggressive and trying something and not waiting another 4 weeks like the doctors in McAllen were doing.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Videos
This is a video of the Silver Lake MI trip where I got sick and a little bit of what the sands dunes is all about:
This is a video of the fireworks from Downtown Detroit. We are standing right in front of the GM building.
This is a video of Kumo and I playing the backyard. Shrekar is blowing bubbles at Kumo.
Kumo enjoying a car ride
Kumo's cousins slipped a bunny under his collar. He tried for a little to get it out, but he gave up very quickly.
We had snow in April of 2011. This was a week before Easter.
These are the lions at MGM Grand. They bring a new group of lions each day and the trainers will play with them and the lions will generally chill and relax.
This is a video of the fireworks from Downtown Detroit. We are standing right in front of the GM building.
This is a video of Kumo and I playing the backyard. Shrekar is blowing bubbles at Kumo.
Kumo enjoying a car ride
Kumo's cousins slipped a bunny under his collar. He tried for a little to get it out, but he gave up very quickly.
We had snow in April of 2011. This was a week before Easter.
These are the lions at MGM Grand. They bring a new group of lions each day and the trainers will play with them and the lions will generally chill and relax.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Pictures
I was at a wedding this past weekend in Chicago and this is the latest picture of me along with some family.
This is a tree in our backyard and I found this tree too be a symbol of my life. Most of the time it is just a tree along with all the other other trees, and little bit bigger, but hardly noticeable. But while all the other trees have lost their leaves, this one is burning bright orange and has this great flash of beauty and a love of life. But you know ultimately that it has to shut down for the winter, and it will be just another tree. But while it is in this stage of life, it is beautiful.
The trip to Silver Lake MI where I got sick.
This was at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. They have a large clear glass cage where they bring a group of lions each day and the lions and their handlers hang out and play and sleep. I could watch them play all day, it is so cute. In the bottom picture there is this tunnel and the cage is clear and you can walk underneath and the lion was sleeping right on that spot.
This was from a helicopter ride from Vegas to the Grand Canyon with my friends and family.
Kumo waiting at the door in Ramakka's house for someone to come home. Everyone has gone off to work or school and here is waiting for his cousins to come home. Kumo hardly barks, but the mailman came to the door to deliver the mail (The mailbox is next to the front door), and Kumo gave this big bark. We got no mail that day. Next day we got the mail and on the mail it was written, "BIG DOG at Door."
We were going to DC and taking KUMO with us in the Escalade and poor fellow did not have too much room to stretch out, so here he is sleeping with his head on the seat. I thought that it was cute.
This is a tree in our backyard and I found this tree too be a symbol of my life. Most of the time it is just a tree along with all the other other trees, and little bit bigger, but hardly noticeable. But while all the other trees have lost their leaves, this one is burning bright orange and has this great flash of beauty and a love of life. But you know ultimately that it has to shut down for the winter, and it will be just another tree. But while it is in this stage of life, it is beautiful.
The trip to Silver Lake MI where I got sick.
This was at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. They have a large clear glass cage where they bring a group of lions each day and the lions and their handlers hang out and play and sleep. I could watch them play all day, it is so cute. In the bottom picture there is this tunnel and the cage is clear and you can walk underneath and the lion was sleeping right on that spot.
This was from a helicopter ride from Vegas to the Grand Canyon with my friends and family.
Kumo waiting at the door in Ramakka's house for someone to come home. Everyone has gone off to work or school and here is waiting for his cousins to come home. Kumo hardly barks, but the mailman came to the door to deliver the mail (The mailbox is next to the front door), and Kumo gave this big bark. We got no mail that day. Next day we got the mail and on the mail it was written, "BIG DOG at Door."
We were going to DC and taking KUMO with us in the Escalade and poor fellow did not have too much room to stretch out, so here he is sleeping with his head on the seat. I thought that it was cute.
Latest Medical Info
Got a call today from Dr Kal and he said that he had a consult with Dr. Malouf and they apparently found foreign bodies in all ten pieces of the biopsies that they did. Now they do not think that it is Sarcoidosis that I have. We have to wait for more time for the lab to give us a more definitive answer to what I have.
We thought that they would start me on Prednisolone this week, but we have to wait for a more definite answer now.
Dr Kal said that Dr. Malouf was asked to ask me if I ingested any laced drugs. I laughed. I told you guys before I would consider myself pretty boring as far as lifestyle.
OK, for the doctors out there that think that may know what I have here is the history of what I have again with symptoms and time frame.
Went to Silver Sands MI on vacation and the only hotel that had room was this very low middle class hotel. Got 2 rooms, one for my wife and I and another for Neeta's aunt and uncle. We had come to go on the sand dunes for the sunset ride. So we had a few hours and we all decided to sleep for a few hours. I went into the room and the room had this big floor AC. I leaned down and faced the AC and turned it on, and the blower started immediately and blew into my face.
By evening we went on this sunset dune ride and it was very nice, but by the end of it, I was starting to get cold and had even turned on the heat in the car. I am not sure if I got a mosquito bite or not on that ride, but I cannot swear that I did not get a bite, so we have to assume that I may have been bitten by a mosquito also.
Got back to the hotel, took a shower and we went out to dinner. I was already cold by this time and was literally shaking. Ate a little bit of the crappy food we were served and went back to the hotel room.
I turned the heat on in the room on the same AC unit to full blast and went to bed. Woke up the next morning felt better somewhat from the night before and we drove home.
Within a few days I started coughing.
Symptoms:
The cough is:
Shallow, sometimes very deep, no sputum or any other productive elements from the cough. The cough does not exist when I sleep and I do get a good nights sleep.
The cough is controlled by Advir a little bit. I used to cough a lot more, but after I started taking Advir, the cough has definitely reduced. It has not disappeared, but has become a lot better. When you add the Tussionex Pearls to the Advir, the cough is even better controlled.
Fever:
I started getting a fever by evening each day, very light fever. I would go to work, and come home by 4 PM and I would have a fever and then I would sleep for a few hours and by the time I woke up, the fever would be gone.
Energy:
I used to work from 7AM to Midnight without any energy issues or feeling tired before I got sick but now that I have this disease I am tired. I wake up at 9AM, walk the dog, sit down and answer emails and phone calls and get to work by Noon. Work for 4 hours and then come home and I am tired. I usually come home and sleep for a few hours. Then I will wake up, answer emails and phone calls, watch a little TV and then get to bed by 9 or 10 PM. I will sleep for at least 10-12 hours and the cycle repeats itself.
Weight Loss:
I lost a lot more weight initially before the cough was controlled. But the weight loss is still continuing, but slower. Over the last 4 months I have lost about 40 pounds. I am currently at 246.
Biopsy Results so far:
All ten pieces of the Biopsy of the lymph nodes have shown foreign bodies. Most of the mediastinal lymph nodes are enlarged a lot.
OK, so that is where we are at. Not sure what I have, but the doctors seem to be curious as to what I have and hopefully we can arrive at a solution soon.
We thought that they would start me on Prednisolone this week, but we have to wait for a more definite answer now.
Dr Kal said that Dr. Malouf was asked to ask me if I ingested any laced drugs. I laughed. I told you guys before I would consider myself pretty boring as far as lifestyle.
OK, for the doctors out there that think that may know what I have here is the history of what I have again with symptoms and time frame.
Went to Silver Sands MI on vacation and the only hotel that had room was this very low middle class hotel. Got 2 rooms, one for my wife and I and another for Neeta's aunt and uncle. We had come to go on the sand dunes for the sunset ride. So we had a few hours and we all decided to sleep for a few hours. I went into the room and the room had this big floor AC. I leaned down and faced the AC and turned it on, and the blower started immediately and blew into my face.
By evening we went on this sunset dune ride and it was very nice, but by the end of it, I was starting to get cold and had even turned on the heat in the car. I am not sure if I got a mosquito bite or not on that ride, but I cannot swear that I did not get a bite, so we have to assume that I may have been bitten by a mosquito also.
Got back to the hotel, took a shower and we went out to dinner. I was already cold by this time and was literally shaking. Ate a little bit of the crappy food we were served and went back to the hotel room.
I turned the heat on in the room on the same AC unit to full blast and went to bed. Woke up the next morning felt better somewhat from the night before and we drove home.
Within a few days I started coughing.
Symptoms:
The cough is:
Shallow, sometimes very deep, no sputum or any other productive elements from the cough. The cough does not exist when I sleep and I do get a good nights sleep.
The cough is controlled by Advir a little bit. I used to cough a lot more, but after I started taking Advir, the cough has definitely reduced. It has not disappeared, but has become a lot better. When you add the Tussionex Pearls to the Advir, the cough is even better controlled.
Fever:
I started getting a fever by evening each day, very light fever. I would go to work, and come home by 4 PM and I would have a fever and then I would sleep for a few hours and by the time I woke up, the fever would be gone.
Energy:
I used to work from 7AM to Midnight without any energy issues or feeling tired before I got sick but now that I have this disease I am tired. I wake up at 9AM, walk the dog, sit down and answer emails and phone calls and get to work by Noon. Work for 4 hours and then come home and I am tired. I usually come home and sleep for a few hours. Then I will wake up, answer emails and phone calls, watch a little TV and then get to bed by 9 or 10 PM. I will sleep for at least 10-12 hours and the cycle repeats itself.
Weight Loss:
I lost a lot more weight initially before the cough was controlled. But the weight loss is still continuing, but slower. Over the last 4 months I have lost about 40 pounds. I am currently at 246.
Biopsy Results so far:
All ten pieces of the Biopsy of the lymph nodes have shown foreign bodies. Most of the mediastinal lymph nodes are enlarged a lot.
OK, so that is where we are at. Not sure what I have, but the doctors seem to be curious as to what I have and hopefully we can arrive at a solution soon.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Kumo is Big
Every time I come back, Kumo looks huge. Teddy is a tinny tot compared to Kumo. We love both no matter what our doggies are and how they look, but Kumo is so regal.
I came back after this long trip and he could not handle his excitement. His butt and tail shook for so long and he was so happy. Unbelievable that someone loves you so much and missed you so much.
I will post a video of my little baby in a few days. It is been a long time and he is too cute to not put his video up.
I came back after this long trip and he could not handle his excitement. His butt and tail shook for so long and he was so happy. Unbelievable that someone loves you so much and missed you so much.
I will post a video of my little baby in a few days. It is been a long time and he is too cute to not put his video up.
Preliminary Analysis
The preliminary analysis of the biopsy: (This is what I have heard from different doctors)
1) It does not look cancerous, when we looked at the biopsy
2) Looks like sarcoidosis and we really think this is what it is
3) Gram Negative bacterial positive from a biopsy, might be contamination, but take these antibiotics just is case.
4) Keep taking the advair just in case it is sarcoidosis.
The thinking goes on.
By the way the cough has returned with a vengeance.
1) It does not look cancerous, when we looked at the biopsy
2) Looks like sarcoidosis and we really think this is what it is
3) Gram Negative bacterial positive from a biopsy, might be contamination, but take these antibiotics just is case.
4) Keep taking the advair just in case it is sarcoidosis.
The thinking goes on.
By the way the cough has returned with a vengeance.
Addict
I am most definitely an addict. I barely slept the night before, just for 3 hours and then came to Detroit at 6PM and by 8PM was in card game till 6am in the morning.
Jeez. Lost a bunch of money, oh well, I think I was too tired to play and should not have played.
Of course wife in an enabler. She likes watching the games and will come to watch the games.
I guess it not too bad a habit in the end anyway. I only play with an amount I can afford to lose, so it is not a big deal.
Jeez. Lost a bunch of money, oh well, I think I was too tired to play and should not have played.
Of course wife in an enabler. She likes watching the games and will come to watch the games.
I guess it not too bad a habit in the end anyway. I only play with an amount I can afford to lose, so it is not a big deal.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Leaving McAllen Friday
Leaving McAllen on Friday and I think that this should be the last I see of McAllen.
I will be back at 5:45PM on Friday in time for the card game for Friday evening. Yeah!!
I will be back at 5:45PM on Friday in time for the card game for Friday evening. Yeah!!
AMA - Finally had To Do It
My blood sugar, fasting without any insulin was 202 and they gave me 8 units of insulin. I was under the doctors control as far as food and drink and after lunch the blood sugar was 350. Of course it is going to be 350. I normally take 100 units of Levomir in the morning. The nurse said that they did not have Levomir.
The Hospitalist was refusing to let me leave the hospital since he was afraid of a DVT with my high blood sugar and he wanted an Endocrinologist consult.
My question to the hospitalist is, do you not have a brain? Are you incapable of thinking logically? I think I have little patience for incompetence. How the hell is the blood sugar going to be in control when you are being reactive to a blood sugar after the fact. I just ate a lunch, and you knew exactly how much insulin to give to keep the blood sugar in control and you choose not to do that. Instead you take an blood sugar reading and say, oh no the blood sugar is high. Of course it is high, what steps did you take to make sure that it was in control, none.
Dumb ass.
Anyway I was tired of his incompetence and left AMA (Against Medical Advice). The other 2 doctors said that I can go home, and that was good enough for me.
I was so happy to be home. My legs were actually feeling numb in the hospital. I am sure if I had to stay another day longer I would have gotten sicker.
The Hospitalist was refusing to let me leave the hospital since he was afraid of a DVT with my high blood sugar and he wanted an Endocrinologist consult.
My question to the hospitalist is, do you not have a brain? Are you incapable of thinking logically? I think I have little patience for incompetence. How the hell is the blood sugar going to be in control when you are being reactive to a blood sugar after the fact. I just ate a lunch, and you knew exactly how much insulin to give to keep the blood sugar in control and you choose not to do that. Instead you take an blood sugar reading and say, oh no the blood sugar is high. Of course it is high, what steps did you take to make sure that it was in control, none.
Dumb ass.
Anyway I was tired of his incompetence and left AMA (Against Medical Advice). The other 2 doctors said that I can go home, and that was good enough for me.
I was so happy to be home. My legs were actually feeling numb in the hospital. I am sure if I had to stay another day longer I would have gotten sicker.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Still No Discharge
Totally bored out of mind at the hospital. I want to be discharged.
I am drinking and eating without any issues or pain and I am still on an IV. Sometimes I think that the medical profession has no one with common sense in it anymore. They blindly follow protocol and follow what is on the chart.
Everyone knows that I should be discharged and should be sent home. The hospitalist said so, the pulmonologist said so, a staff member from the surgeon said so, so my question is why the hell am I still here.
What an inefficient system. They really need to send me home and fill this bed with someone that is sick.
OK, just figured out what the delay is. The hospitalist apparently called in a consult for an endocrinologist and a hematologist. They are calling him to cancel this so that I can go home.
The IV was annoying, so I stopped it and disconnected it. I feel much better now.
I am drinking and eating without any issues or pain and I am still on an IV. Sometimes I think that the medical profession has no one with common sense in it anymore. They blindly follow protocol and follow what is on the chart.
Everyone knows that I should be discharged and should be sent home. The hospitalist said so, the pulmonologist said so, a staff member from the surgeon said so, so my question is why the hell am I still here.
What an inefficient system. They really need to send me home and fill this bed with someone that is sick.
OK, just figured out what the delay is. The hospitalist apparently called in a consult for an endocrinologist and a hematologist. They are calling him to cancel this so that I can go home.
The IV was annoying, so I stopped it and disconnected it. I feel much better now.
A Call
I got a call about 2 or 3 weeks back on Saturday. I had come back on Friday from McAllen and went into work early Saturday morning.
It was a girls voice (I want to say slightly Mexican accent, but could not confirm it), and the voice said, "You have a wife?"
I said, "what" since the questions was kind of unaccepted and weird.
She said again, "You have a Wife?"
"Yes", I said.
"We need to meet, I have been having an affair with her", she said.
I said, "yeah, yeah"
She said, "So you do not care that your wife is having an affair?"
I hung up the phone at this point. I got a call right back from the same unknown number as the caller ID said.
My immediate thought is that not everyone is unethical and a cheater. The chance that Neeta would cheat on me is ZERO. A big fat ZERO.
My guess is that the call was from someone connected to someone with no morals and feels like everyone else is like that. Well I can guarantee you young lady that there are a lot more people that ethical and good and you unethical people are in the minority.
So whoever you are, you and your friends stay the Whores you are and we will stay ethical and nice.
I forgot to write this up earlier, but I thought that I should mention it.
It was a girls voice (I want to say slightly Mexican accent, but could not confirm it), and the voice said, "You have a wife?"
I said, "what" since the questions was kind of unaccepted and weird.
She said again, "You have a Wife?"
"Yes", I said.
"We need to meet, I have been having an affair with her", she said.
I said, "yeah, yeah"
She said, "So you do not care that your wife is having an affair?"
I hung up the phone at this point. I got a call right back from the same unknown number as the caller ID said.
My immediate thought is that not everyone is unethical and a cheater. The chance that Neeta would cheat on me is ZERO. A big fat ZERO.
My guess is that the call was from someone connected to someone with no morals and feels like everyone else is like that. Well I can guarantee you young lady that there are a lot more people that ethical and good and you unethical people are in the minority.
So whoever you are, you and your friends stay the Whores you are and we will stay ethical and nice.
I forgot to write this up earlier, but I thought that I should mention it.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Retiring
I will retire by the end of 2013. I will be guiding the company with a vision, but I will not work anymore after December 2013.
We should be extremely profitable by then and I think I can hand over the company to younger employees.
There are a lot of places I want to see and travel to and I think that it is about time to start living life.
I love what I do as far as work and I hardly consider it work, but still I think we have to give it a definitive date of when I stop working so that I can do other things that I have always wanted to do.
I am not going to buy stuff anymore, and will instead fill myself with experiences.
We should be extremely profitable by then and I think I can hand over the company to younger employees.
There are a lot of places I want to see and travel to and I think that it is about time to start living life.
I love what I do as far as work and I hardly consider it work, but still I think we have to give it a definitive date of when I stop working so that I can do other things that I have always wanted to do.
I am not going to buy stuff anymore, and will instead fill myself with experiences.
Forgiveness
I have been thinking about forgiveness. What does it mean to forgive someone completely. What does it mean when you know that you were 100% correct and still the other person looks you in the eye and lies to you.
Forgiveness I believe comes from deep inside you. It does not matter that the other person lies, cheats, and is a horrible person. When you forgive, you forgive and then move on.
So, yes I have forgiven.
Forgiveness I believe comes from deep inside you. It does not matter that the other person lies, cheats, and is a horrible person. When you forgive, you forgive and then move on.
So, yes I have forgiven.
Surgery Over
The surgery is over and I survived. Yeah!! But what this stay in the hospital has done is show me a few things.
1) My company does not need me - It does fine even when I am away for long periods of time. My staff is more than capable of running my company.
2) You do not want to be in the hospital. I was actually in for a small procedure and what a pain in the ass to be in the hospital. I think it is time to work hard and lose weight and control the diabetes. Otherwise I will likely spend the last few years in a hospital.
3) I hate IV's
Let me tell you what happened from the point I was in my room. I was actually wheeled in the bed itself to Pre-Op. There I hung for a little while and then they wheeled me into the OR. There my bed was put right next to the operating table and then I moved over on to the operating table. Then they took each hand and tied them down on these extenders for hands at about a 35 degree angle. They put warm blankets on me, that was nice, it was so comfy. They put a mask on me and said that I am now breathing oxygen and then the lady said the gas has started and that was the last thing I remember. Next thing you know I woke up in the pre-op again. Hung out there for about 30 minutes and people were screaming next to me, it was rather disconcerting.
Then they wheeled me to my new room, 2106 and they call this a step down, whatever that means. So here I am in the step down.
I also had a Foley Catheter that they removed in the pre-op after the surgery and I have to say that the first time I peed after they removed the Foley was crazy painful.
I was dying of thirst and Sunand came over brought me a diet coke and a few bottles of water and that was a life saver.
Now something odd has developer after the surgery. Remember that I had a cough all the time and that was why I was in surgery to do a biopsy. The cough is now gone, completely. I wonder if this means that the enlarged Lymph Nodes were touching the Phrenic nerve or something to that effect and causing the cough. Anyway an interesting development.
1) My company does not need me - It does fine even when I am away for long periods of time. My staff is more than capable of running my company.
2) You do not want to be in the hospital. I was actually in for a small procedure and what a pain in the ass to be in the hospital. I think it is time to work hard and lose weight and control the diabetes. Otherwise I will likely spend the last few years in a hospital.
3) I hate IV's
Let me tell you what happened from the point I was in my room. I was actually wheeled in the bed itself to Pre-Op. There I hung for a little while and then they wheeled me into the OR. There my bed was put right next to the operating table and then I moved over on to the operating table. Then they took each hand and tied them down on these extenders for hands at about a 35 degree angle. They put warm blankets on me, that was nice, it was so comfy. They put a mask on me and said that I am now breathing oxygen and then the lady said the gas has started and that was the last thing I remember. Next thing you know I woke up in the pre-op again. Hung out there for about 30 minutes and people were screaming next to me, it was rather disconcerting.
Then they wheeled me to my new room, 2106 and they call this a step down, whatever that means. So here I am in the step down.
I also had a Foley Catheter that they removed in the pre-op after the surgery and I have to say that the first time I peed after they removed the Foley was crazy painful.
I was dying of thirst and Sunand came over brought me a diet coke and a few bottles of water and that was a life saver.
Now something odd has developer after the surgery. Remember that I had a cough all the time and that was why I was in surgery to do a biopsy. The cough is now gone, completely. I wonder if this means that the enlarged Lymph Nodes were touching the Phrenic nerve or something to that effect and causing the cough. Anyway an interesting development.
Hospitalist Came to do a H&P
A hospitalist came to do a H&P and it was a Telugu dude. He said that he worked at Weslaco before and had been in the valley for 3 years. He said that he knew my ex and told me sorry for what happened to me.
Snake Came For A Visit
I was at an acquaintance house a few days back and a snake came into the house. We were all sitting inside and it slithered inside, like snakes are bound to do, being all sneaky.
The snake was in a corner room hiding and I could hear it hissing. Then we noticed that there was another snake there already. This snake was kind of weird looking and hissed a lot more then the first snake.
My friends went over and started giving it milk. I told them that we should not offer any milk, and told them to get some bats and beat the shit out of them, and that is how to treat snakes. But my friends kept giving more and more milk.
Finally after snakes drank to their hearts content and were full, they slithered away and left. I guess what was important was that no one got hurt by the snakes, and all we lost was a little milk.
Man, I hate snakes.
On a side note the snake came up and started doing that snake dance all happy after getting all that milk, all happy and content, but I noticed that it was still an extremely ugly creature. No matter what that snake does, it is still a snake and will always be an ugly creature.
The snake was in a corner room hiding and I could hear it hissing. Then we noticed that there was another snake there already. This snake was kind of weird looking and hissed a lot more then the first snake.
My friends went over and started giving it milk. I told them that we should not offer any milk, and told them to get some bats and beat the shit out of them, and that is how to treat snakes. But my friends kept giving more and more milk.
Finally after snakes drank to their hearts content and were full, they slithered away and left. I guess what was important was that no one got hurt by the snakes, and all we lost was a little milk.
Man, I hate snakes.
On a side note the snake came up and started doing that snake dance all happy after getting all that milk, all happy and content, but I noticed that it was still an extremely ugly creature. No matter what that snake does, it is still a snake and will always be an ugly creature.
Last Meal
I forgot to tell you guys what my last meals was. So when you go under general anesthesia there is always a chance for death, so I decided to have a last meal. I was allowed to pick anywhere I wanted and I choose.....Church's Chicken. Yes Church's because I wanted to share my last meal with my former dog, Teddy, we got a 20 piece bucket and shared it with my dog and my friends.
10am - Still no surgery
I guess I am a non-emergency case and the surgeon is a busy cardio-thorasic surgeon so I am not sure when the surgery will be. I would guess soon since I have been NPO since 9PM. NPO = Nothing per Oral = Nothing by Mouth.
Checked In
Checked in at Midnight. In room 4106.
They come in put on a bunch of leads and then hang something portable that sends readings to the nurses station. They kept coming in every hour and saying the readings were not coming in and finally they came and shaved me from head to toe.
Then they had me take a shower with some special solution that is for pre-operation liquid to prepare the skin for surgery. Some sort of antiseptic.
Here I am looking like a patient now at 4:13am hairless on the front of my body. I wish they would have done the back so that it looks even. I look weird.
They wanted to put a IV line at midnight and I said no. I said why would you put it in now, when the surgery is in the morning, come in the morning and put it in. The nurse cried saying that she wanted to do it now, but I turned her down.
They come in put on a bunch of leads and then hang something portable that sends readings to the nurses station. They kept coming in every hour and saying the readings were not coming in and finally they came and shaved me from head to toe.
Then they had me take a shower with some special solution that is for pre-operation liquid to prepare the skin for surgery. Some sort of antiseptic.
Here I am looking like a patient now at 4:13am hairless on the front of my body. I wish they would have done the back so that it looks even. I look weird.
They wanted to put a IV line at midnight and I said no. I said why would you put it in now, when the surgery is in the morning, come in the morning and put it in. The nurse cried saying that she wanted to do it now, but I turned her down.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Surgery - Nov 1 2011
Got the insurance approval and the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. I went at 3:20 PM to the Surgeons office and they gave me a packet to get admitted to Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. Went to the hospital and finished the paperwork and they had me do a few more tests, usual blood work, bleeding time, MRSA (Felt weird when they do the swab), EKG and an x-ray.
I have to check into the hospital at midnight for the surgery and the surgery is scheduled for Nov 1, 2011 in the morning. Apparently I have to spend the night tomorrow also in the hospital and then they will discharge me on Wednesday. I am scheduled to fly back to Detroit on Thursday.
The result of the biopsy will take 7-10 days.
The biopsy is a simple procedure where they make a small incision in the throat area and then take biopsies of the all the enlarged lymph nodes. I will be under general anesthesia and will zonked out tomorrow is my guess.
The chance of death is always present in any surgery, but I guess the chances are very small and not even worth mentioning. But...
Just in case I do die, I tell Neeta to be generous, and think about what I would do. I do not have time to write out a detailed Will like I have in the past. I also have a folder on my laptop labeled Money and Loans, and people owe me a lot of money and all those details are written in that folder, with each person having a separate excel file.
OK, so I am going to take a shower, pack and get ready to go to the hospital. See you all, hopefully, in a few days.
I have to check into the hospital at midnight for the surgery and the surgery is scheduled for Nov 1, 2011 in the morning. Apparently I have to spend the night tomorrow also in the hospital and then they will discharge me on Wednesday. I am scheduled to fly back to Detroit on Thursday.
The result of the biopsy will take 7-10 days.
The biopsy is a simple procedure where they make a small incision in the throat area and then take biopsies of the all the enlarged lymph nodes. I will be under general anesthesia and will zonked out tomorrow is my guess.
The chance of death is always present in any surgery, but I guess the chances are very small and not even worth mentioning. But...
Just in case I do die, I tell Neeta to be generous, and think about what I would do. I do not have time to write out a detailed Will like I have in the past. I also have a folder on my laptop labeled Money and Loans, and people owe me a lot of money and all those details are written in that folder, with each person having a separate excel file.
OK, so I am going to take a shower, pack and get ready to go to the hospital. See you all, hopefully, in a few days.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
I weigh 250
Did you know that I have lost a lot of weight and I am now at 252 pounds. I am wearing a size 42x32 for pants and 18-1/2 34/35 for short size. I had to donate all my old clothes to goodwill and get almost all new clothes.
I hope to get under 200 pounds for 2012. A lofty goal in 2012, but I figure a little hard work on my part and I should be good to go.
At 252, my knees have stopped hurting and all the walking I am doing has become very easy. So time to bump up the distance and really get the weight lose popping.
I am not sure if it is age, or what, but food does not appeal to me anymore. I could go all day without eating without a problem. The only time I realize that I need to eat is when I start getting dizzy late in the afternoon due to low blood sugar. A few days back I had skipped dinner and gone to bed and the alarm rang in the morning and I woke up and by the time I got to the shower I was actually dizzy and felt weak. I barely made it out of the shower without falling and on wobbly knees I went downstairs and ate cereal. After about 30 minutes I finally started feeling better. I wonder if I am killing any cells in my body when I get to that low blood sugar state? Not sure, but nowadays I actually have to think about eating, or I simply skip the meal without realizing it.
I wonder if there is some hormone that controls appetite, and why some people are skinny and some are fat. I have really noticed this lack of appetite over the last 3 months. I wonder if the disease I have is causing this lack of appetite? I have lots of questions, but no answers?
I hope to get under 200 pounds for 2012. A lofty goal in 2012, but I figure a little hard work on my part and I should be good to go.
At 252, my knees have stopped hurting and all the walking I am doing has become very easy. So time to bump up the distance and really get the weight lose popping.
I am not sure if it is age, or what, but food does not appeal to me anymore. I could go all day without eating without a problem. The only time I realize that I need to eat is when I start getting dizzy late in the afternoon due to low blood sugar. A few days back I had skipped dinner and gone to bed and the alarm rang in the morning and I woke up and by the time I got to the shower I was actually dizzy and felt weak. I barely made it out of the shower without falling and on wobbly knees I went downstairs and ate cereal. After about 30 minutes I finally started feeling better. I wonder if I am killing any cells in my body when I get to that low blood sugar state? Not sure, but nowadays I actually have to think about eating, or I simply skip the meal without realizing it.
I wonder if there is some hormone that controls appetite, and why some people are skinny and some are fat. I have really noticed this lack of appetite over the last 3 months. I wonder if the disease I have is causing this lack of appetite? I have lots of questions, but no answers?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sunday - Going to San Antonio for Ra One
Ra One got terrible reviews, and I have not seen a Hindi movie in almost 4 years, since Sept 1997. I had my own reasons for shunning Hindi movies, but my friends in McAllen and I are going on Sunday to San Antonio to see Ra One at 1PM.
I always wanted to see Delly Belly and a couple of other movies before the surgery next week. I have loved almost every movie that Amir Khan has made or produced and I have missed all his movies over the last 4 years, and I think that it is time to catch up with his movies.
I always wanted to see Delly Belly and a couple of other movies before the surgery next week. I have loved almost every movie that Amir Khan has made or produced and I have missed all his movies over the last 4 years, and I think that it is time to catch up with his movies.
Wanting
I used to have a bad case of wanting. This is a disease in which you want more and more stuff. I have decided that I will not buy anymore stuff and will dedicate the rest of my life to some of the goals I had created for myself.
I was going to buy a Bentley as soon as the lawsuit with the ex-wife was over, and since it is over, I was going to buy the flying spur. This was the first summer that I did not buy a play car.
But after lots of thought, I think I have been given enough and I really do not need anymore of anything.
So, I will not be buying anything except for absolute necessities.
I have a few goals for 2012:
1) Start a foundation that my family and friends can borrow from or get direct gifts from. I have asked Sujey to get this started and will initially fund it and I will add to it every few months.
2) Give a gift to my dad. My mom always wanted a Mercedes in India and I am going to give him the money since I felt like he wanted to buy it for her, but his budget never really allowed for it.
I know that my ideas are kind of small and simple, but that it all I have for now, as far as things that I absolutely wanted to do.
I was going to buy a Bentley as soon as the lawsuit with the ex-wife was over, and since it is over, I was going to buy the flying spur. This was the first summer that I did not buy a play car.
But after lots of thought, I think I have been given enough and I really do not need anymore of anything.
So, I will not be buying anything except for absolute necessities.
I have a few goals for 2012:
1) Start a foundation that my family and friends can borrow from or get direct gifts from. I have asked Sujey to get this started and will initially fund it and I will add to it every few months.
2) Give a gift to my dad. My mom always wanted a Mercedes in India and I am going to give him the money since I felt like he wanted to buy it for her, but his budget never really allowed for it.
I know that my ideas are kind of small and simple, but that it all I have for now, as far as things that I absolutely wanted to do.
Biopsy
I went on vacation and when I got back home I was feverish and had a cough. Over the last 3 months we have tried:
Main symptoms now are cough for last 3 months, which can be treated somewhat with Advair and Tussionex Pearls
1) Nothing
2) ZPack
3) Some other anti-biotic
4) Asthma Medication
5) Got a CT - This showed mediastinal lymph node enlargement.
6) Got an ACE - Normal
7) Only abnormal finding was an elevated Alkaline Phosphatase
Since we cannot find a definitive reason of what the disease process is, I now have a surgery (Biopsy) scheduled by Dr. Francisco Bracamontes in McAllen during the week of Oct 31-Nov 4th. Hopefully this will give me a definitive answer of what the heck I have. I really do not care what it is, Lymphoma or something else, just need to find out what it is and then we can work on a solution to heal it.
Main symptoms now are cough for last 3 months, which can be treated somewhat with Advair and Tussionex Pearls
1) Nothing
2) ZPack
3) Some other anti-biotic
4) Asthma Medication
5) Got a CT - This showed mediastinal lymph node enlargement.
6) Got an ACE - Normal
7) Only abnormal finding was an elevated Alkaline Phosphatase
Since we cannot find a definitive reason of what the disease process is, I now have a surgery (Biopsy) scheduled by Dr. Francisco Bracamontes in McAllen during the week of Oct 31-Nov 4th. Hopefully this will give me a definitive answer of what the heck I have. I really do not care what it is, Lymphoma or something else, just need to find out what it is and then we can work on a solution to heal it.
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